


Late Night Comfort

by KattheSinisterAce



Series: Chaos Battalion and Their Beloved General [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Mando'a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 12:37:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4564938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KattheSinisterAce/pseuds/KattheSinisterAce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's late, and General Novhret should be sleeping. She isn't. She's scared. She seeks the comfort of her Commander because Gavel is her brother. He'll understand...or she hopes he will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Night Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place before Heading Back to Camp, and is again set in Tari's Grey Jedi AU.

Tari woke with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. There were tears in her eyes. She tried to scrub them away, but new ones kept replacing them.  
Shuddering, she pushed herself up and out of the bunk. She was scared, and she knew it.  
What am I going to do? she wonder as she stood in her pajamas, shivering from the memory of what she’d just seen in her dream and the chill of the cooling system aboard the Star Destroyer.  
If she thought hard enough, she could remember bits and pieces of her life before the Jedi. It was vague and mostly sensations rather than proper memories, but she still remembered. Her mind gave her a solution: seek the comfort of a sibling.  
Gavel. Gavel was her brother—if not in blood, than in name. All of the clones who made up Tari’s battalion were her brothers, but Gavel…Tari knew he was fond of her.  
As she padded quietly through the corridors of the Star Destroyer, Tari found herself scared yet again. This time, it wasn’t about her dream.  
I hope he doesn’t mind…

—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—//—

“Gavel?”  
Sitting up in his bunk, Commander Gavel’s eyes sought the familiar sight of General Novhret. She stood a few feet away, just inside the doorway. She looked like she was about to cry.  
“General? Is anything wro—“  
Her head dropped and she scrubbed at her eyes, sniffling quietly. “No—no, nothing’s wrong, I just…”  
Gavel shook his head. His general would deny anything was wrong until her last breath—and, he thought, even after. He’d seen her like this before, after a battle. She’d find some quiet place to sit and cry, and when someone eventually found her, she’d force down her sorrow and despair and look up and smile and tell them everything was alright. She’d get up and go help Strikeout in the medbay, or she’d help Brutus in the armory, or Bomber with maintenance on the gunships and troop transports. She wouldn’t show just how distraught she really was.  
“Tar’ika.” he said softly. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Tell me what’s wrong—please?”  
She stared at him for a long moment before giving another sniffle and carefully creeping across the room to settle down beside her commander.  
“Okay, ori’vod.” she mumbled, tucking herself under one arm and huddling against him. “Okay.” she took a stuttering breath. “I’m scared, Gav’ika. I keep going to sleep and seeing everyone die.”  
“Even Krayt?” he asked softly. Krayt wasn’t one to die—not if anyone from his battalion or his general were in trouble.  
“‘lek.” was the soft, mumbled reply. “Even you and Krayt.”  
They fell into silence, Tari giving a quiet sniffle occasionally. All Gavel could do was hold her, reassure her he was real, he was here.  
He wasn’t sure how long he held her, but finally Tari stirred. “Ni ceta, Gavel. I’ll go back to my quarters. I didn’t mean to wake you or to keep you up this long.” she made to get up, but he held her.  
“Don’t go.” he felt strange for asking—he wasn’t even sure how she’d respond. “Gedet’ye.”  
Tari froze in his arms. Gavel held his breath, waiting for her reply.  
When it came, it was soft. “Okay, Gav’ika. I won’t leave.”  
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Vor’e, Tar’ika.”  
They fell silent again, each drifting into their own thoughts. And eventually, they drifted off to sleep, Gavel still holding Tari.  
He wouldn’t admit it, not to anyone besides Strikeout and Tari, but he had nightmares too. Having Tari there, warm and real and reassuring, was comforting.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in rping with Tari, she can be found at http://nervousmando.tumblr.com/  
> If you'd like to ask about Gavel, or his brothers, you can drop by http://nova-fabula.tumblr.com/


End file.
